No More Surprise Medical Billing: Impact of Transparency on Healthcare Costs

The Department of Health and Human Services announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is issuing two rules that take historic steps to increase price transparency to empower patients and increase competition among all hospitals, group health plans and health insurance issuers in the individual and group markets. This will make previously unavailable price information accessible to patients and other stakeholders in a standardized way, allowing for easy comparisons. This panel will discuss and debate the new rules, how hospitals comply with the requirements, monitoring, auditing and corrective action plans.

With data analytics, machine learning, and electronic health records, individuals are increasingly looked at from a data perspective, instead of a human perspective. While the use of data analytics and artificial intelligence has increasingly provided better studies and results for patients, as well as created a more convenient environment, technology has taken a toll on the patient experience and put a barrier up between a person and their health.

Trends in healthcare point to patients leaning toward care at a lower cost, the most convenient location, and a declining interest in a patient-physician relationship. Because of this, many hospitals are facing low admission and having to merge with other hospitals to continue caring for patients. Large health systems must compete to win over patients from going to a retail clinic instead. This session will discuss ways that health systems and their leaders can find opportunity in retail clinics through telemedicine services, reintroducing house calls, and other innovative ideas.

The pace of transformation is accelerating as healthcare is experiencing an explosion of innovation designed to improve quality, allow greater access, increase efficiency and lower costs. Innovation has become a driver of transformation with analytics, cloud, mobile tools, open APIs, apps, and patient data being generated. A growing number of health systems and medical centers are investing in innovation programs. But do these innovation initiatives always achieve their promise?

Entering the healthcare market is complex. The presence of players such as insurance companies, governments, and regulatory bodies — which influence prices and policies — creates considerable friction. Additionally, many solutions fail to address real pain points of consumers This interactive session will address issues in regard to healthcare technology and reveal best practices to take you from start up to IPO.

The growth of venture capital and venture capital -backed startups deserves the attention of healthcare leaders because advancements in medicine are no longer exclusively born from providers within the delivery system and increasingly from innovators outside of it. While venture capital-backed startups in digital health offer opportunities to affect the cost and quality of care, they often pose potential risks to patient care.

A Medicare Advantage plan offers additional benefits outside of what is covered by original Medicare. For example, Geisinger Gold includes hospital, medical and prescription drug coverage all in one. The Trump administration wants MA plans to tackle maternal mortality rates, social determinants of health, and rural healthcare access.

Solutions Track

Innovative Management of Hospital Support Services

A core problem complex medical facilities face is the lack of clarity about where people are located within the system. Henry Ford Health System decided to face this problem with the implementation of the NavvTrack system. This system is a novel indoor location and logistics management platform that provides real-time location data for hospital support services such as transport, environmental services, and pharmacy using only WiFi networks and mobile devices. NavvTrack was collaboratively developed at HFHS using Apple technology, now commercialized by NAVV Systems, a spin-out from Henry Ford Innovations. This presentation will tell the story behind the design, development, and implementation of the NavvTrack system at Henry Ford Health System (HFHS).

By combining advanced technology, deep integrations across the healthcare ecosystem, and a constant focus on Member experience, in 2019, Livongo had the largest digital health IPO in history and demonstrated itself as the first consumer-first digital health company to deliver measurable outcomes at scale. Hear from Livongo Founder and Executive Chairman Glen Tullman, who will discuss how Livongo’s Applied Health Signals Platform delivers on its promise to clients and Members and how Livongo successfully scaled and went public in only five years. A visionary healthcare business leader, entrepreneur, and Managing Partner of 7WireVentures, Tullman will also cover trends across the industry and provide his thoughts on opportunities to leverage technology to improve both health and care.

Glen Tullman, JDRF Director Emeritus and Livongo Health Founder

10:05 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.

Morning Break with Exhibitors

10:45 a.m. -11:45 a.m.

Strategies Track

How Healthcare Leaders are Addressing Behavioral Health

The healthcare industry has shown an increase in behavioral health cases as more and more patients are showing signs of mental illness. Conditions like depression, anxiety, and dementia have spiked in numbers and are changing how health systems handle these disorders. Gun violence has been an example of how individuals with struggling cognitive function have severely changed the industry’s focus onto behavioral health, while the opioid crisis has been an increasingly alarming topic as the rise of deaths from overdosing these medications has come to an all time high. This session will answer topics such as statistics for rising mental illnesses and how to combat large amounts of behavioral health cases.

Electronic Health Records have made a significant impact on how clinicians take care of their patients. Being able to see a patients' health history allows the clinicians to have a more holistic view of care. However, EHR data is not necessarily combined with a patients' claim data, making the water murky as clinicians have no idea what claims their patient has already made as they come in to receive care. While EHR data primarily focuses on recording patient care, and claims data focuses on the billing of health services, combining these two records has shown to improve overall quality measurement. Combining two sources of healthcare data creates an analytic resource stronger than either source individually.

Increasing financial pressures are pushing providers and even non-provider entities to engage in healthcare merger and acquisition activity. Value-based reimbursement, shrinking hospital margins, and record-high healthcare spending are pushing providers to consider new partnerships to achieve efficiency and cost control. And providers are contemplating healthcare mergers and acquisitions sooner rather than later to achieve their goals.

Health systems are becoming increasingly interested in incorporating genetic information into a patient's care plan. As consumer interest in genetic testing continues to increase, since consumers are more interested in how their inherited health impacts future wellness, hospitals are looking for new ways to incorporate genetic information into primary care. Integrating genetic information into the day-to-day care of patients has been challenging. This case study presentation will discuss how hospitals and health systems are breaking down these barriers.

With younger generations, comes changes in the healthcare world as we know it. Virtual and online access is a must and primary care physicians are finding it hard to keep a steady stream of regular patients. This is especially true when it comes to issues around transparency, customer service, and convenience.

Moderator:

Aurora Aguilar, Editor, Modern Healthcare

Panelists:

Jhaymee Tynan, Assistant VP, integration, Atrium Health

Solutions Track

Virtual Reality in Healthcare

It takes more than technology to drive and accelerate digital transformation. It takes strategy. Digital transformation superstars do more than access quick digital fixes. Supported by mission, vision and strategy, they’re able to integrate mobile, virtual care, data analytics and the cloud to transform business and clinical performance. Uncover emerging opportunities for digital transformation through this exciting panel.

The health care has an intense focus on transformation, as leaders realize that only those organizations that can expertly manage risk while reducing costs will succeed under new value-based care models. As organizational structures shift, the industry must adopt new strategies to succeed in this new world. Exactly what do leaders need to do as new models unfold?